Brightest Hour of My Darkest Day
by Nerdyesque
Summary: "I know," she acquiesces for the first time in their wonderfully terrible history. "I'm already packed. Come and get me please." (Or a series of ficlets based around Veronica's pregnancy and the reactions of those in her life).
1. Logan

Logan clenches the magazine in his hands, the slick paper nearly tearing with the force of his grip as he stares at Entertainment Weekly's "Hollywood's Pregnant Beauties" article.

It couldn't be.

It _couldn't_ be.

And yet, it _could_ be since he has compelling evidence. _Pictorial _evidence, nonetheless. The symmetry and irony, oh what a cruel bitch, chokes him, though a minute later he realizes it was more the combination of laughter and tears than an ethereal concept of Karma. He tries to stick it back onto the rack he found it on, but it floats to the ground instead. He ignores it in favor of rifling through his pockets.

For a moment he misses the sure touch of raised buttons beneath his sensitive fingertips as he presses the correct sequence of numbers on the slick screen; he is old school enough to memorize numbers in the off chance his i-Phone is stolen or lost. He raises the cell to his ear, listening for the three rings, and then his breath catches when _she answers._

"So I guess you saw the article, huh?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What makes you think it's yours?"

Logan scoffs, the sound welling from his _soul_. He knows because he _knows_. That's all the proof he needs.

"I can count, you know."

Silence, then a tiny sigh. She won't actually say the words, no, never acknowledge the truth if she can skillfully evade through omission, but Logan knows he has her. He _has_ her.

"We promised it wouldn't mean a thing."

Of course not, as they were – are – in relationships with other people, other names mashed with theirs in stupid portmanteaus that mean even less than the ridiculously ornate promise ring on her finger. He'd enjoyed the feel of it sliding against his dick when she jacked him in the elevator seven months ago, knowing his juice was soaking into the precious stones, a sly reminder of him. He came over that hand again and again during the weekend they recklessly spent together, imprinting himself as thoroughly on her as he dared. The world would think they were cheating on their significant others, but _no_. They were returning to where they belonged, always belonged, even if only for the minute. They cheated on each other with everyone else.

"Are you having a boy or a girl?"

"We – I – don't know," she instantly corrects herself. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

"I'm sure the first test was a surprise."

Her chuckle is surprisingly carefree. He yearns to rub his lips across her throat, lick the sweet spot beneath her right ear, and feel their child kick in her womb.

"He doesn't know."

Logan rolls his eyes because _duh_. None of them ever know. His women usually find out because he's indiscreet enough to get caught but he then has no shame; he's only marking time until her will crumbles again. She, on the other hand, still clings to her illusions of being nothing like her mother or Lilly. He enjoys it, loves the guilt and rage it engenders in her when he slips beneath her prim dresses, lifts her skirts to reveal the sexy sheer underwear he gifts her. By the time he's done, her protestations against marking her beautiful skin quiets as she becomes a wanton sprawl of soft thighs and welcoming arms beneath him.

"I want our baby," he demands. The time for her willful blindness is gone. He has allowed her to sow her wild oats; she _will_ accept his loving dominion this time.

"I know," she easily acquiesces for the first time in their wonderfully terrible history. "I'm already packed. Come and get me please."

* * *

**A/N: Yes, in case you're wondering it is Veronica he's talking to. This ficlet was inspired by two things: a) The first time I saw a picture of Kristen Bell preggers b) the lyrics of "Glyercine" by Bush. I should be ashamed of myself because they created life while technically with other people, but the plot bunny is above such moral dilemmas. **


	2. Mac

"Can we talk?"

"Uh sure," Mac murmurs distractedly, her fingers running down the spreadsheet. The numbers better line up or she was going to put her foot up someone's ass in the Billing Department.

"I'm pregnant."

The slight choking sound reminds Mac she's not alone and her assistant is frozen, his mouth open in shock at her best friend's bald announcement. She now wishes she'd taken the call instead of putting it on speaker, but how was she supposed to know Veronica was going to drop that kind of news?

The death-by-laser-sight glare she levels on Henry before she shoos him from her office is effective; she knows he won't spill the secret despite how much its worth. Ever since she became engaged to comedic actor Dax Shepard, Veronica's every move is breathlessly cataloged by the paparazzi and there's no way something this juicy wouldn't be noteworthy.

"How far along?"

Silence is her only response and Mac checks the phone to make sure they're still connected.

"Vee?"

"Four months," is the sheepish response and Mac resists the urge to thunk her head against her desk.

"Did you tell him?"

There is only one _him_, and unfortunately it isn't Veronica's fiance.

"Not yet."

"You are." It _isn't _a question.

"Well..."

"There is no "well" about this." Mac wishes she could throttle her best friend. "You made your bed and then dragged Logan into it. Again and again and again and again."

It isn't a secret that Logan and Veronica are incapable of staying away from one another indefinitely, regardless of their romantic prospects; her ending up with an Echolls spawn in her belly despite the bridal veil in her near future is only surprising in how unsurprising it is. Mac has never understood their relationship in any of its permutations: in high school, the bad years in college, and beyond.

This separation has lasted the longest, almost two years, with Veronica actually committing herself to someone else for more than a few months. Mac hadn't truly believed it would hold, but hadn't expressed any of her reservations when her best friend asked her to be the maid of honor, hoping she was wrong.

This call proved Wallace owed her fifty bucks. It would've been hundred, but she's only half-right: Veronica is pregnant three years too early.

* * *

**A/N: I have a feeling these ficlets, while centered around Veronica's pregnancy, won't be in chronological order. As to this being a full-fledged story, I highly doubt I'll commit that much to this idea simply because I'm still consumed by scenes for my two WIPs already. And yes, I'm mixing the VM 'verse with reality (as Dax Shepard is both KBell's hubby-to-be and her baby daddy).  
**


	3. Dick

Dick sits down hard, nearly slipping off the end of the chair. He runs a shaky hand through his blond hair, darker now he isn't constantly in the sun, and alternates between staring up at Logan and glaring at the ground. He really hoped Veronica getting engaged would finally stop Logan from falling into her gravity well, but naturally the blond schemer had pulled him right back in as if two years hadn't passed. If he didn't know better - and honestly he does because as much as he dislikes Ronnie he does know her pretty well after all these years - he'd think she got knocked up on purpose.

"Dude."

"It's true."

"But...but..."

"I don't wanna hear it, Dick, I'm serious. She's gonna have my kid and that's that."

"Dude."

"I know, but this time it'll work."

"Duuuude."

"I worry," Logan begins hesitantly, ignoring Dick's complaints about Veronica, his hands unconsciously reaching to pull nonexistent long sleeves down past his wrists. Dick stands and claps him on the shoulder.

"Dude, no way."

"No?"

"Nope, your little dude or dudette will be lucky to have you for a dad. Now Veronica as the mom..."

"Dick."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...she's the motherfucking love of your life." Dick sighs and shakes his head in consternation, knowing there's nothing he can say now he hasn't said in the past about Veronica; not that it ever changed Logan's mind or heart. Veronica Mars is Lilly Kane times a million and Logan is as caught on her hook as he ever was for the other blonde. Dick can't understand it, never did, and probably never will, but it's not his life. Thank _fuck_ it's not his life.

"Only one thing I gotta know."

Logan smirks, relief and gratitude warming his brown eyes.

"What?"

"I'm gonna be the God-Dude in charge instead of Charlie, right?"

* * *

**A/N: This section is dedicated to RedJane12 because I know how much she loves her some Richard Casablancas. And yes, I purposely mentioned both Wallace and Charlie to indicate they're still around so I wouldn't have to write their reactions. I thought long and hard about Wallace, but decided he couldn't really add more to Mac (he would never be as tough with Veronica as Mac anyway).  
**


	4. Keith

It breaks Keith's heart sometimes how much Veronica is Leanne's daughter in both looks and temperament, though he likes to think her sense of right and wrong comes from him, even if her execution is sometimes warped. He recognizes the expression on her face and for a moment he swears its his ex-wife standing before him with a defiant tilt to her head. Keith had known about her affair with Jake almost from the beginning, but was willing to try to work through it for the sake of Veronica; apparently the apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all.

It's true he never understood Veronica's obsession with Logan or Logan's possession of Veronica, but he thought they'd finally grown beyond each other when his little girl came home with a ring from another man. That day was a bittersweet one because he had to finally acknowledge she was no longer the tow-headed blond dynamo who needed her "Daddy" but a woman who had finally made a choice.

Only it seemed he breathed a sigh of relief too soon.

"How far along are you?"

"I just found out, Dad."

"The weekend I went to Seattle?"

She doesn't pretend to misunderstand.

"Yes."

"The one I lied to Dax about, saying you were with me? The same weekend you said you needed space to clear your head to figure out if the engagement was what you really wanted?"

She has the grace to look ashamed.

"I did, Dad. Logan just.._.happened_."

"Oh so you just tripped and fell onto his dick again and again?"

His willingness to be crude is a testament to how angry he is.

"It wasn't like that!"

"It never is, Veronica. It never is!"

Her teenage years are ones he's never comfortable looking back upon because it brings up self-recriminations about being a terrible father. This forces him to because Logan is such an indelible part of that time period; in some of his darker moments he wishes the kid had never come to Neptune. He can't quite bring himself to wish harm upon him, especially given his suspicions about what Logan's home life was_ truly_ like, but Keith is also a father with a starry-eyed girl who can't seem to shake her fascination with him.

He snorts then at his own mental description of Veronica as "starry-eyed." If she ever was, and he desperately tries to remember when she was, she definitely wasn't after Lilly's death.

"I love Dax," she quietly confesses, her blue eyes ringed with shadows of exhaustion and sadness. "But he's not Logan."

Keith rubs his forehead then reaches out to her. A brief frisson of _something_ passes over her face before she accepts his touch and folds into his arms as easily as she ever did. This tension is new between them, especially when they fought so hard for common ground after the whole Jake Kane-Sheriff's Election fiasco a few years ago, and he secretly blames Logan though it's not entirely his fault.

This twisted _thing_ between the kids is rooted in a past neither can truly escape no matter how hard they try, and Veronica is enough her mother's daughter to flee what she can't control.

He doesn't dare hope she'll finally take a stand and make it work with Logan, so he'll be there as he ever was, and will always be, standing at the ready to catch her if she falls.

* * *

**A/N: Just in case it's not totally clear, Keith was the first person to find out Veronica was pregnant (I'm envisioning 1-2 mo along tops). They are probably one of my all time favorite fictional parent-child relationship so naturally I couldn't write a ficlet series without including Keith. I think he would be angry about the circumstances surrounding the conception rather than the actual idea of Veronica having a baby since it strikes so close to home (obviously he can identify with Dax). One thing I always enjoyed about them is no matter how angry or hurt or frustrated he was with her, he always, _always _had her back when it counted.**


	5. LoVe

"I'm going to be a horrible mother!"

"No you won't be, Ronnie. Just breathe."

"Don't tell me what to do, Logan! I _am _breathing. I just don't think I can do this."

"Well, it's a little too late now, don't you think? Maybe you should've had that abortion like you wanted."

"What? I never even _thought_ about doing that! I would never do that to our baby."

"See, that proves you have something of a mothering instinct."

"Or I just don't believe in abortion. I could've wanted to put the kid up for adoption."

"You hated me that much you would've denied me my own flesh and blood?"

"I couldn't be certain it was yours."

"You knew."

"Nah uh."

"Yeah huh."

"Okay, fine! I knew the instant your semen flooded my womb."

"You know how hot it makes me when you talk like that."

"Are you two _really_ gonna start flirting, here, _now?"_

"Sorry Mac, but goddamn I have a beautiful woman. How can I not resist her?"

"You sure about that, Echolls? You plenty of practice in high school."

"Ronnie you promised that was over and done with!"

"Son, it's obvious you've never really been with a woman if you think that's a promise that can be kept. They have minds like steel traps and the memories of Elephants looking for their bone yards."

"Good point, Mr. Mars, and everyone - and I do mean _everyone_ - knows Veronica can hold a grudge like nobody's business."

"Ahem, I hate to interrupt this little tete-tete, but Ms. Mars is dilated enough so she needs to start pushing."

"Oh god, Logan, I really don't think I can do this!"

"Ronnie, you found Lilly's killer, faced down the Irish Mob, eluded death, caught killers, and thieves, and dead beat boyfriends time and again. This ain't no thang, baby."

"While sweet, know I _will_ rip your balls off through your throat if you ever call me such a cutesy name again."

"What's this about the Irish Mob?"

"Daddy, don't you think we should focus on the more important thing like the fact I have an _Echolls spawn trying to crawl out a hole the size of a cherry_?"

"Uh, Veronica, I like to think you're still so virginal you could be offered up as a sacrifice to appease the angry Volcano gods, so I think I'm gonna step outside. You coming, Dick?"

"And explain please, exactly why your best friend is in here with us?"

"Dude, _someone_ needed to record this for prosperity. Oh and I was his ride when your water broke."

"That's posterity."

"That's what's I said."

"Dick if you point that camera anywhere south of my head again know I _will_ end you like I should've Freshman year of college."

"Uh, Logan, dude, please put a muzzle on your dog there. She's looking a little rabid."

"DICK!"

"Geesh, you all don't hafta yell. I'm not deaf."

"No, just immensely stupid. Just leave."

"I know when I'm not wanted; 'sides I'm pretty sure I saw the future ex-Mrs. Richard Casablancas the Third on the way in. Her boobs were as big as Ronnie's mouth. So, you know, huge!"

"Mac, you got him to leave. I think I'm gonna cry! You're my hero! The wind beneath my wings! The Pinky to my Brain."

"Hey! I thought I was."

"No, sugarplum, you're the waffle cone to my ice cream."

"How come you get to use nicknames and I don't?"

"Hmmm, maybe because _your spawn_ is currently _eating its way out of my womb!_"

_"_Well, at least we know where our baby got its appetite. Ow, ow, ow."

"We need a few more biiiiggg pushes."

"I'm already folded in half! What more do you want?"

"Ronnie, I see the head!"

"Logan get back up here and take my hand. I don't want you seeing me like this."

"Like what? A glorious warrior woman who's bearing my child?"

"Though I'd rather wear your penis as a feather in my cap right now, eventually I might actually want you to use it again."

"This part is going to be really hard, Veronica so I need you to listen to me. We need to gently turn the baby a little so the shoulders won't get caught. You have to ignore the urge to push no matter what, or the baby might get stuck."

"Oh God, oh God, oh God!"

"Listen to me, Ronnie. Focus on me. Remember that trip we took to Napa our senior year of college?"

"Yes."

"I still mean what I said."

"Really?"

"I do."

"Now push Veronica!"

"Oohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"What is it?"

"Congratulations Mr. Echolls, Ms. Mars. You have a beautiful baby girl."

* * *

**A/N: I have no idea where this came from but I just sat down and quickly typed it up. I didn't feel like having any exposition, only dialogue, and hope it came out okay. This concludes the story as I never intended it to be longer than Veronica's pregnancy.**


End file.
